Broadcaster Press 3 June 14, 2016 www.broadcasteronline.com The Need for More Sunshine in Campaign Finance Reports BY BOB MERCER State Capitol Bureau PIERRE – Money flew like punches with fury in the final weeks of many campaigns leading to last Tuesday’s party-primary elections across South Dakota. Maneuvers that attempted to deceive or make discovery difficult became commonly used, especially in some of the fierce Republican legislative primaries. Many candidates of both parties and supporters have turned South Dakota into a wild west of politics. Gradually we’re making progress toward more transparency within the formal structure of state and local governments. But that progress hasn’t spilled into the ways that campaigns are conducted for the offices that run our governments. Instead political trickster-ism is rampant. At the heart is the lack of enforcement mechanisms. That’s a discussion for another day. First the shadiness must be exposed. The 2016 primaries gave us many examples. Candidates who aren’t up for election, or who never plan to run again, don’t have to file pre-primary finance reports. This loophole means there isn’t a clear and simple way to track whether their political committees are spending money to influence other candidates’ primaries. You can get at the truth if you grind through every primary candidate’s pre-primary report. That’s how you find out Gov. Dennis Daugaard or Rep. Lee Schoenbeck or Rep. Liz May or Rep. Lee Qualm had been spreading money around. But because they aren’t primary candidates, and they don’t have to file a pre-primary report, you don’t know the sources of recent money. All you have is their year-end report for 2015, and what they will disclose in their October pre-general election reports if they are on the November ballot, or their year-end report that isn’t public until early 2017. Some of the money being spent in this way came from donations for 2014 campaigns. Oftentimes there are large donations made to candidates in the weeks immediately after a November general election and before Jan. 1 of the next year. That means money meant for helping Candidate A can be recycled an election cycle later by Candidate A to help Candidate B, regardless whether the donor who supported Candidate A would also support Candidate B come 18 months later. Dakota Senior Meals Served them Main Street it in the Fried Steak, Mashed Tell at The you saw Chicken Broadcaster! Potatoes and Milk Gravy, Center & Town Square, Peas, 624-4429Apricots “Meals on Wheels” Thursday – BBQ Chicken Legs, Baked Potato, Sour Please call before 9:00am Cream, Mixed Vegetables, to schedule or cancel a Pears Friday – Beef Nachos with meal at 624-7868. Pinto Beans, Strawberries, Menus listed below are Peaches, Cranberry Orange June 15 - June 21. Menus Bar Monday SBeef Tell them you Stroganoff, Orange Spiced saw it –in the are subject to change without notice. All menus Carrots, Ruby Beet Salad, Broadcaster! Mixed Fruit are served with whole Tuesday – Salisbury grain bread and 1% milk Steak in Brown Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed unless otherwise noted. 624-4429 Wednesday – Baked Cabbage, Apricots Tell them you saw it in the Broadcaster! 201 W. Cherry • Vermillion, SD 15% off VERMILLION SUMMER LUNCH MENU 624-4429 Scan our QR code with your smart phone and discover the Broadcaster Online! Sold! Classifieds At Home Caregiving Services Services include: • Personal Care • Long/Short Term Care • Companionship • Activities of Daily Living • Medication • Respite/Transitional Reminders Care • Appointment • Meal Preparation Accompaniment Ana Nesselhuf 605.202.0987 TouchingLivescaregivers@gmail.com FREE MOVIE! Open to the Public In honor of the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, The Coyote Twin Theater and the South Dakota Humanities Council is offering free admission to the following movies: June 18th - 10 AM Romeo + Juliet (1996 Leo DiCaprio Version) June 25th - 10 AM West Side Story All showings will be held at the Coyote Twin Theater 10 E. Main St. Vermillion, SD Let The Broadcaster and Plain Talk Your New Home At... Westbrook Make Cash Estates For You! Locally Owned and 3211 E. Hwy. 50 • Yankton, SD 745 E. Hwy 46 • Wagner, SD 605-665-4540 • 800-526-8095 605-384-3681 • 800-693-1990 Operated Since 1972 Or visit us at www.marksinc.com Good only June 14 - June 28, 2016. One per visit 201 W. Cherry • Vermillion, SD BE SMART. Consider it... The Summer Food Program at Jolley will be serving lunch Monday through Friday from May 31st to July 29th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. This meal is FREE to anyone 18 or younger. For more information call 677-7000. Menu listed below is for June 15 - June 21. Menus are subject to change without notice. Wednesday – Baked Mini Corn Dogs, Peas Thursday – Baked Chicken Nuggets, Golden Corn Friday – Pizza, Baked Beans Monday – Baked Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Baked Tater Tots Tuesday – Super Nachos, Steamed Carrots 1 full Tell them you priced saw jewelry item it in the Broadcaster! 605.658.1100 The Vermillion Area Community Foundation awarded $3,000 to support a partnership involving Feeding South Dakota, The Welcome Table, the Weekend Backpack Program, and the Vermillion Food Pantry that helped provide groceries to Vermillion area residents on Thursday, May 19. This pilot Food Giveaway dispersed food to 707 people in less than 4 hours. Jessica McKenzie, executive director of the Vermillion Food Pantry commented, “So many community groups came together to make this possible in such a short period of time.” 100 volunteers distributed 20,000 pounds of food to 290 children, 328 adults, and 89 senior citizens. McKenzie noted, “As a result of support from the VACF and through the work of Feeding South Dakota, we are blessed at Vermillion Food Pantry and Vermillion Backpack Program to be able to put food in the hands of families in a way that will help them the most.” The Vermillion Area Community Foundation was established in 2000 for the sole purpose of creating an endowed fund to build financial resources to benefit organizations operating in Vermillion, SD, and the surrounding area. The VACF provides grants annually to assist with capital projects that address community needs and that impact and enhance the quality of community life for residents of all ages. Be Ready. Be Certain. Buy Certified. 624-4429 120 W. Main St., Suite 102,Vermillion Political action committees often operate in the same way. Money raised in 2014 can be stashed for 2016. They at least must file pre-primary reports. But PACs can have a thicker shroud of secrecy if they choose. Take Prairie Country PAC, run by Richard Hilgemann and Ken Santema from Aberdeen. Prairie Country reported revenue this year of $1,000 from Santema, $180 from Republican legislative candidate Drew Dennert of Aberdeen and $380 of un-itemized contributions. They reported spending this year of $8.50 for a merchant account, $280 for travel and $1,619 for advertising. But for the purpose of which candidate was secret on the report. Only through bragging on Prairie Country’s Facebook page did people outside discover the PAC paid to attack Caleb Finck of Tripp and support Stace Nelson of Fulton for a Senate Republican nomination won by Nelson on Tuesday. After a blogger exposed the PAC, the Facebook item was removed. Next week we’ll consider other methods, such as un-sourced donations, independent expenditures, and partisan-financed independent candidates. 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